The New York Daily News wants to make sure Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz meets the city’s official bird. Cruz on Tuesday dismissively referred to Donald Trump’s “New York values,” a phase that provoked a response from many of the city’s residents on both sides of the aisle. And on Friday, “New York’s Hometown Newspaper” used an image of Lady Liberty giving the finger to Cruz on its front page, and urged him to “go back to Canada,” where he was born. “DROP DEAD, TED,” the page reads. During Thursday night’s Republican debate, Trump gave a definition for “New York values” that even Cruz was forced to applaud. “When the World Trade Center came down, I saw something that no place on Earth could have handled more beautifully, more humanely than New York,” Trump said.
Commenting on the newspaper’s provocative front page, Cruz told media outlets that “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” He also added that “it’s absolutely ridiculous that a tabloid newspaper such as the New York Daily News believes that using profanity will get them the desired reaction. Considering how many people, including children, read their paper on a daily basis, you would think they pay much more attention to how they use their influence. Something like this happens, and then the next day we’re surprised that a kid in elementary school flips the bird in protest to his math teacher for giving him detention. Where’s the logic in that? That’s right, there isn’t any, just like this lousy attempt at sensationalism will fail.”
The Republican presidential hopeful also said that, “on a personal level, however, I must admit I am deeply insulted and, more importantly, hurt by what has happened,” adding, “I’ll have you know that I am a conservative, honest man who has never told a lie, and I have not had, do not and will never have any connection whatsoever with any sexual symbols. I am a father of two, and a happily married man. If it were just me, I could understand this kind of move. However, it pains me to see that no one thought about how my wife or, more importantly, my daughters will feel when they see that someone has done this to their daddy. Honestly, I cannot understand such cruelty, and especially not at a time like this, when the future of this great nation is at stake.”
“When it’s my time to go before Him, God will remember this and he will not be pleased,” Cruz said. “When I stand before him and he asks me why this has happened, I will tell Him this was not my fault. I will tell Him that others have wronged me and that my faith has was unflinching over the course of my entire life. And when he asks me whose fault was it, I will have no choice but to say, ‘New Yorkers’.’ I cannot and will not lie to Him, as I never have. And if and what he should decide to do with you as punishment for provoking me, it will be your own fault. I’ve already forgiven you, that’s not the issue. But whether he will too – that’s something that remains to be seen. For now, I will carry this weight on my shoulders as if I were carrying the very gigantic finger from that front page. It will be my wooden cross.”
